Google enters mobile advertising space with AdMob acquisition

In a push to expand its digital advertising empire to cellphones, Google has agreed to acquire AdMob, a fast-growing mobile advertising start-up, for $750 million in stock, the companies said.

AdMob is one of the top sellers of banner ads on iPhone applications and Web pages that can be retrieved from mobile phones. The acquisition could help establish Google as an early leader in the small but rapidly expanding mobile phone advertising business.

The deal shows that Google is serious about becoming a major player in the mobile advertising ecosystem, said Neil Strother, an analyst with Forrester Research. It puts Google in the front-runner position.Strother and other analysts said that position could prove tenuous. The mobile advertising business, which has long been hailed as the next big thing, remains embryonic.

Agencies

Satellite for convergence of cellphones, satellite phones launched

A new satellite designed to allow the convergence of cellphones and satellite phones throughout the U.S. was successfully launched Thursday, mobile communications provider TerreStar announced.

Weighing 6,910 kg, TerreStar-1 is the largest commercial satellite ever and was launched by Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana Tuesday.


The satellite will deliver voice, data and video services to the entire US. Its 20-metre antennae are large enough to beam satellite signals to mobile phones, which TerreStar hopes to launch later this year. The satellite component will allow users to use voice, email and data communications all over the US, even when there is no cellphone coverage.

"With the successful launch of TerreStar-1, we are redefining the mobile communications landscape," said Dennis Matheson, chief technology officer of TerreStar. "We are creating a new paradigm in mobile broadband network services to enable true ubiquity and reliability - anywhere in the United States and Canada."

Agencies